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EFA MEPs comment on Brexit debate in European Parliament

The European Parliament has approved a resolution recommending that the Brexit negotiations move to phase two.
MEPs emphasised that the UK government must respect the commitments already given in order for progress to be made in the next phase, and that outstanding issues will need to be resolved...

Phosphate additives

The European Parliament has just voted on an objection to Commission proposals that would allow phosphates to be used as additives in products such as donor kebabs. The objection, which was co-tabled by Greens/EFA MEP Bart Staes, fell just short of the required absolute majority.

European Council

This Thursday and Friday (14-15 December), leaders from the 28 EU member states will attend a meeting of the European Council in Brussels. The agenda includes migration and the decision on whether to progress to stage two of the Brexit negotiations.

Money should only be used to support renewable energy sources

Following the COP23 and its new alliance, Powering Past Coal, signed by 25 entities to ensure the phasing out of coal from power generation by 2030, the goal of concrete, imminent action against global warming is being pursued in Paris at the One Planet Summit, on 12 December. The Greens urge leaders to turn away from all fossil fuels and support green energy sources

Why the Greens/EFA group is objecting to the Commission's proposals

On Wednesday 13 December, the European Parliament will vote on an objection to Commission proposals that would allow phosphates to be used as additives in products such as donor kebabs. The objection, from Greens/EFA MEP Bart Staes and the S&D’s Christel Schaldemose, is designed to protect public health. The following Q&A should help clarify some of the misconceptions regarding the Commission’s proposals.

Strasbourg Flash - Plenary session 11-14 December 2017

EFA perspective on EU rules for cross-border online TV

There are an estimated 40 to 50 million speakers of regional and minority languages in the European Union.
Each and every one is a vital part of the diverse tapestry that makes Europe what it is today.
Yet, despite important progress over recent years in terms of rights and recognition, many c...

Energy governance

The European Parliament’s Environment, Public Health & Food Safety and Industry, Research & Energy committees have today adopted the report on the Governance of the Energy Union. This regulation will translate the outcome of the Paris climate agreement into EU law. The vote in plenary should take place in January 2018.

Greens meet Changemakers

During a three-day event, Greens/EFA will welcome hundreds of "changemakers" from around many organizations of most European countries. This lab will be the opportunity for us to listen, share and take stock!

Lobbying Transparency

We have to give credit to the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union for their success in reaching an agreement between all 28 EU Member States that would shed a slither of light into the lobbying that surrounds the Council of the European Union. This was by no means an easy task. The Council’s decision-making process is arguably the least transparent when compared to the Commission and the Parliament, and some Member States appear keen to keep it that way.

Defeating the disease

New estimates released this year have shown the staggering amount of money that is lost due to corruption in the EU: between 179 and 990 billion euros, every single year.
To play with a metaphor, corruption is like a contagious disease, a virus that spreads quickly, infecting people in ways that are not always visible, and ravishing our public services in its wake. The virus was created by humans, but we don’t need doctors to eradicate it, just a lot of hard work - or better said, a lot of teamwork!
We need your support for these campaigns and we are happy to lend you ours as well – just get in touch, and let’s get to work.

One scandal chases another: LuxLeaks, Panama Papers, Paradise Papers... they all show there is a global system of corruption and injustice in place. On 12 December, we have a great opportunity to fight money laundering and tax avoidance. The European Parliament will vote on its Panama Papers report and we need to make this a victory for tax justice!

European Ombudsman - Public consultation and invitation to submit comments

The last remaining primeval forest in Europe is under threat

Show your support! The Białowieża forest is all that remains of an ancient forest that once stretched across lowland Europe. Illegal logging by the Polish government has led to 180,000 trees being felled this year. The European Court of Justice has ruled that Poland must stop the logging immediately.

During the last plenary session of 2017, the European Parliament will vote on the final Panama Papers report and its recommendations. Thanks to the Greens/EFA group, the report contains many important findings and tools to tackle money laundering and tax dodging. Read more to find out the seven key recommendations that are in danger and that we need to protect.

The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament has published a report looking at the UK's financial secrecy and corporate tax haven network, which spans its Crown dependencies and overseas territories, and centres on the City of London. The Paradise Papers scandal shows there is an urgent need for the EU to take action against the UK’s pursuit of deepening its role as a global tax haven following its EU departure.
The Greens/EFA group wants to see the leaning up the UK's overseas territories to be a condition of any UK-EU trade deal after Brexit.

On 17 November, the European Parliament, Council and Commission will sign the Inter-institutional Proclamation of the European Pillar of Social Rights in Göteborg. The Greens/EFA group welcomes this declaration of intent, but wants action to make a social Europe a reality. Here we present some of the key priorities of our group, and the opportunities to make them happen.

COP23

A look at the Greens/EFA proposals

Last week’s Paradise Papers offered another disturbing glimpse into the murky world of offshore finance, used by wealthy individuals and big business for tax evasion and tax avoidance. But the PANA inquiry committee has already adopted strong recommendations with concrete political proposals to prevent activities revealed in Paradise Papers.

COP23 Climate Negotiations

There is currently a heated debate ongoing about the need to prevent dirty energy companies from disproportionately influencing and watering down climate policy. Ecuador together with other developing countries are leading the charge to demand the introduction of a conflicts of interest policy in the UN Climate Change negotiations, and they are supported in this endeavour by NGOs, Green politicians and the “G77 group” of States – all of whom are demanding more ambitious action to protect the planet.

New tax report

An analysis issued by Greens / EFA Group in the European Parliament found that the efficient tax management has made it possible that an increasingly smaller part of profits made by VEOLIA in France are actually taxed. VEOLIA ENVIRONMNET is able to pay only very limited amounts of tax on profits made in two of its major countries of operation: France and the US, becoming some sort of tax havens for the group.

A Greens/EFA proposal

26 October - At the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament, the Greens/EFA group proposed the establishment of an inquiry committee on glyphosate. The purpose of the committee would be to investigate the handling of the decision-making process for the proposed renewal of glyphosate's licence.

A study commissioned by the Greens/EFA Group

This legal opinion concerns the question whether and how the recent Opinion 1/15 of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the Draft EU/Canada PNR Agreement impacts the Proposal for a Regulation on an Entry/Exit System. For that purpose, it analyses in detail the main findings in Opinion 1/15 and related earlier case law on data retention schemes before applying the identified principles to the context of data collection and retention in the planned EES.

A study commissioned by the Greens/EFA Group

The Opinion of the CJEU impacts other data retention schemes, including the one proposed in the EES, significantly and therefore cannot be ignored – neither in on-going legislative procedures nor in view of potential amendments to be made to existing instruments.

Green members debated on the issue in the European Parliament

EU Parliament voted on 20th GMO in 2 years

The European Parliament adopted today its 20th objection to a GMO put forward for authorisation by the EU Commission, in less than two years. We ask whether President Juncker shouldn’t mark this uncomfortable anniversary by pausing to reconsider his Commission’s approach to GMOs

Common European Asylum Policy

We need an asylum policy that better reflects the needs of applicants. Family ties, social and cultural connections and language can all have a big impact on people’s ability to integrate into their new community.

Accountability of the Council budget may soon be improved, ending seven-year stalemate

A report from PAN Europe, commissioned by the Greens/EFA group

The present report aims to emphasise that we already have all the tools necessary to gradually start building a pesticide-free agricultural model and to confirm that weed control is possible using other means than harmful herbicides.

The work done by Ms. Caruana Galizia and her colleagues on the Panama Papers has been crucial for uncovering the murky reality of corruption in Malta. It was thanks to these journalists that the European Parliament was able to secure an EU-wide inquiry into tax avoidance and financial secrecy

A social investment to tackle poverty

On the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, the Greens/EFA would like to highlight the crucial character of minimum income schemes for all EU Member States. Adequate minimum income schemes are essential to combat poverty and social exclusion. They enable people to be contributing members of society, undertake training and/or look for work.

Parents can watch

Our current food and agricultural system isn't sustainable. Increasingly we get locked in a global production model with high social and environmental costs, mainly in the form of a rapid degradation of biodiversity. There is an urgent need to rethink the global food system. Agroecology is the path towards a more sustainable agricultural and food model.

As the EU Commission and industry push ahead with plans to deregulate new GMOs, EU citizens are still not properly involved in the debate

The issue of new GMOs and whether they should be regulated, or not, has been in the spotlight recently with a high-level event organised by the Commission and a hearing at the EU Court of Justice. A clear outcome of these debates is that the right of citizens to decide which technologies should be used and in which conditions, is absolutely off the radar of the EU Commission. This has to change.

... to Increase Transparency, Participation and Accountability in the EU institutions

The European Parliament petitions committee adopted its annual report on the activities of the European Ombudsman in which it congratulated the work done by Emily O’Reilly and her team so far to increase the transparency, good governance and accessibility of the EU institutions.

Greens/EFA nominee is shortlisted

The European Parliament’s foreign affairs and development committees agreed on the shortlist for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought for 2017. Aura Lolita Chávez Ixcaquic, a Guatemalan environmental and human rights defender from the Maya Quiché people, was nominated by the Greens/EFA group.

Secret science is not science - get the truth out now!

The Monsanto Papers are secret, internal documents that have now been made public thanks to over 10,000 farmers who have taken Monsanto to court, accusing the company's glyphosate weedkillers of causing them to develop a cancer called non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.